Wednesday September 23 10:00 am to 2:30 pm EDT "Read on" for Day 1 Program
Michael Brooks, Chief Executive Officer, Real Property Association of Canada
Vlad Volodarski, Chief Executive Officer, Chartwell Retirement Residences Pammi Bir, Managing Director, Global Equity Research, RBC Capital Markets
COVID-19 brought an unexpected impact on every Canadian, our businesses, the markets, and our overall economy. With widespread retail, business and production shutdowns, steep drops in consumer spending, and accelerating levels of unemployment, the pandemic pushed our economy into a recession. Is this really a recession or something totally different? What kind of an economy will we be recovering into? How to navigate the zigzag economy in the remainder of this year and 2021? How temporary is the softness or is there permanent damage? Who wins? Who losses? Which provinces will recover faster?
Eric Lascelles, Chief Economist, RBC Global Asset Management Inc.
Since last September, Canadian REITs have experienced dramatic highs and lows in the capital markets. This presentation will provide an update on some of the key factors that have contributed to this trend and the results over the first half of 2020. Comparatives will be provided relative to other industry sectors, different property types, and the meltdown of the 1990s, the 2000 tech bubble and the 2008 financial crisis. The commentary will conclude with a few observations on where the market appears to be heading over the next twelve months.
Carolyn Blair, Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets Real Estate Group
A wide-ranging discussion among portfolio and money managers on how their investment criteria and activities with REIT units and REOC shares changed since March, and what are the key expectations and risk management concerns heading into 2021. The panel will address a wide range of issues and questions. A few examples include:
Are you running a “war-time” portfolio by being hypersensitive to avoiding trends, very careful about what you are owning by sector, and also within each sector?
On what are you now focused, e.g. yields, total return, growth? Does anything matter more to investors than Risk Adjusted Returns?
What risks are you most concerned about, e.g. accommodating health and safety concerns in your buildings, the decline in immigration and its impact on population growth, consumer spending and housing demand, remote home workplaces vs. office demand, the sharp climb in e-commerce vs. brick and mortar retail?
Moderator: Pammi Bir, Managing Director, Global Equity Research, RBC Capital Markets
Panel: Tom Dicker, Vice President & Portfolio Manager, Dynamic Funds Michael Missaghie, Portfolio Manager, Anson Advisors Inc. and President, Arch Corporation Michele Robitaille, Managing Director, Canadian Equity, Guardian Capital LP Joshua Varghese, Vice President, Portfolio Management and Portfolio Manager, Signature Global Asset Management, CI Investments
For many REITs and REOCs, development has been one of their key growth strategies in the past ten years. But as a result of COVID-19, what does this look like for development going forward?
Will urban mixed-use, transit-oriented still be in vogue? Or are we going to focus on different models? Will they have less retail and more of something else?
What will the future of development look like depending on which property class you're in, what city you are in and whether you're urban or more suburban?
Has urbanism peaked? Has a form of obsolescence been created e.g. parking needs, elevator, washroom and hallway congestion, tolerance for density, high-rise vs. low-rise, open plan layouts?
Is it time to be looking at development because you can get great locations or are people hunkering down?
This panel will examine all these and other questions in greater detail.
Moderator: Derek Warren, Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Real Estate Equities, Lincluden Investment Management Limited
Panel: Marlon Bray, Senior Director, Cost and Project Management, Altus Expert Services, Altus Group Hugh Clark, Executive Vice President, Development, Allied Properties REIT Christine Côté, Vice President, Development, SmartCentres REIT Daniel Marinovic, Chief Development Officer, Dream Unlimited Dean Wilkinson, REIT Analyst, CIBC World Markets
Concurrent Sessions (Select A1, A2 or A3)
Under normal market conditions, no other real estate property category has attracted as much chatter in recent years as retail. Once a favourite of investors, this property type has been facing many increasing challenges for some time. COVID-19 has resulted in most malls and a considerable number of stores and restaurants to close due to health and safety government mandates. In a pandemic, certain types of retail have become the most vulnerable property type. This panel discussion will examine a wide range of major issues that both landlords and retailers have been dealing with in the current situation. A few examples:
What has the overall outcome been for retail focused REITs? How have super regional malls performed vs. smaller enclosed malls vs. power centres vs. grocery anchored centres?
With the major surge in online shopping due to mandated closure of most retail outlets, what’s happened once stores, malls and restaurants reopened?
How are brick and mortar going to co-exist with online shopping? How can landlords redefine the onsite retail experience for shoppers?
We will examine these and other trends on the future of the retail market.
Moderator: Nurit Altman, Director, RBC Capital Markets Real Estate Group
Panel: Clint Elenko, Vice President, Western Canada, CT REIT Jay Freedman, Executive Vice President, Client Relations and Business Development, Oberfeld Snowcap Glenn Hynes, Executive Vice President & COO, Crombie REIT Bradley Jones, Head of Retail, Oxford Properties Group Kate MacDonald, Portfolio Manager, Signature Global Asset Management, CI Investments
REAL ESTATE FORUM CLUB (REF Club)
REITs are now facing the unprecedented challenges of a once in a lifetime pandemic. How will the REIT structure be able to address major issues that emerge from COVID-19? What defines a “best in class” REIT, e.g. franchise value and high-quality tenants, a creative management team, their total return vs. income and cash flow? In 2020, what should the ideal business model of a REIT include, e.g. a consistent payout, well defined growth prospects, dividend growth potential, strong management, governance, attracting talent, their ESG and KPIs, and a portfolio of quality assets?
Moderator: Justin Bosa, Managing Director, Head of Real Estate, Global Banking and Markets, Scotiabank
Panel: Don Clow, President & CEO, Crombie REIT Rael Diamond, President & CEO, Choice Properties REIT Philip Fraser, President & CEO, Killam Properties REIT Jennifer McClelland, Vice President & Senior Portfolio Manager, Canadian Equities, RBC Global Asset Management
Access to well-priced capital is critical to ensuring the growth of publicly traded companies via acquisitions, development and other activities. This session will examine the current market conditions and environment for REITs to access debt and equity markets to meet ongoing financial needs. Many questions will be addressed, e.g. how is capital being allocated in this market; should it be recycled rather than raising equity; how can external capital be accessed without doing an issue; and what should be a CFO’s interest rate strategy?
Moderator: Mario Barrafato, Chief Financial Officer, Choice Properties REIT
Panel: Kay Brekken, Executive Vice President & CFO, First Capital REIT Stephen Co, Vice President, Accounting, CAPREIT Lesley Gibson, Chief Financial Officer, CT REIT Michael Markidis, Managing Director, Real Estate, Research Equity Group, Desjardins Capital Markets Peter Sweeney, Chief Financial Officer, SmartCentres REIT